Considering buying new 24" iMac

[Marianne]

Weird that the BenQ price showing everywhere in the US is slightly lower (than the UK price) while the Eizo is significantly higher. I'm afraid it may be an old price and that they'll jump when they are finally in stock. I agree with Mick, Allan, nab one while you can. I could not find a single retailer in the US - bricks & mortar or online - with the BenQ in stock and only estimates as to when they expect to get more. 

 

With a much smaller difference across the pond between the Eizo and the BenQ, you might want to opt for the premium brand (Eizo). For me, the $500 difference, especially know it's so inflated, has me crossing my fingers that the BenQ will be back in stock in a few weeks. 

 

Enjoy your new setup Allan!

Edited July 4, 2022 by Marianne

[MDM]

55 minutes ago, Marianne said:

Weird that the BenQ price showing everywhere in the US is slightly lower (than the UK price) while the Eizo is significantly higher. I'm afraid it may be an old price and that they'll jump when they are finally in stock. I agree with Mick, Allan, nab one while you can. I could not find a single retailer in the US - bricks & mortar or online - with the BenQ in stock and only estimates as to when they expect to get more. 

 

With a much smaller difference across the pond between the Eizo and the BenQ, you might want to opt for the premium brand (Eizo). For me, the $500 difference, especially know it's so inflated, has me crossing my fingers that the BenQ will be back in stock in a few weeks. 

 

Enjoy your new setup Allan!

 

Are you sure you have not been looking at one of the CG series which are typically a lot more expensive than the CS series. I just had a look at B&H and they have a couple of CS Eizos in stock. These are quite a lot more expensive than in the UK which is unusual as we usually pay the same in £ as you guys do in $. Must be the global shortage.

[Marianne]

10 hours ago, MDM said:

 

Are you sure you have not been looking at one of the CG series which are typically a lot more expensive than the CS series. I just had a look at B&H and they have a couple of CS Eizos in stock. These are quite a lot more expensive than in the UK which is unusual as we usually pay the same in £ as you guys do in $. Must be the global shortage.

 

I copied and pasted the link you provided to insure it was the exact same model monitor. Shortages in all things tech are raising prices here like crazy. Wish I'd taken the plunge and bought a monitor back in January. As you saw for yourself, prices here are substantially higher than in the UK for the Eizo - but the BenQ is about $20 less than in the UK - the link you gave showed it at £669 which is about $810 - right now it's $779 at B&H (and everywhere else such as Adorama, Amazon, etc - though it's out of stock so the price could change when they finally come in). 

 

Give the huge premium on the Eizo, I'm going to wait and see if I can nab a BenQ if they come in sometime this month and if the price doesn't jump too much. 

 

Started house hunting a bit online today - talk about sticker shock! We're still trying to figure out where we want to go, and waiting for contractors to arrive to do some required work on our house. We'll probably wait for housing prices to settle since we're buying as well as selling. 

[spacecadet]

3 hours ago, Marianne said:

but the BenQ is about $20 less than in the UK -

UK advertised prices include 20% VAT.

Edited July 5, 2022 by spacecadet

[Marianne]

8 hours ago, spacecadet said:

UK advertised prices include 20% VAT.

 

A  $20 difference in price between the US & UK on the BenQ isn't surprising but the $200+ difference on the Eizo seems like a big difference. I didn't know if VAT was included or not - here in the US prices are quoted before sales tax - but then sales tax varies a lot from state to state. 

[spacecadet]

12 minutes ago, Marianne said:

 

A  $20 difference in price between the US & UK on the BenQ isn't surprising but the $200+ difference on the Eizo seems like a big difference. I didn't know if VAT was included or not - here in the US prices are quoted before sales tax - but then sales tax varies a lot from state to state. 

FYI in the EU (and the UK- sorry) it has been unlawful for some years to advertise only a VAT-exclusive price in transactions that are, or might be, B2C. So when you see a UK price it's invariably VAT-inclusive except on trade sites. In the US it surprised me at first to put an item in my basket and then find out I had to pay more.

[Jay D]

Almost bought the new iMac myself, with my 2015 iMac 21.5 becoming so slow ( editing photos was near on impossible - Spinning beach ball )....opted for self-fitting a new SSD harddrive and its now like the way it should have been at purchase...hopefully it'll last another 8yrs...

[sb photos]

6 hours ago, Jay D said:

Almost bought the new iMac myself, with my 2015 iMac 21.5 becoming so slow ( editing photos was near on impossible - Spinning beach ball )....opted for self-fitting a new SSD harddrive and its now like the way it should have been at purchase...hopefully it'll last another 8yrs...

 

The iMac 21.5" slow down you experienced is very common, effecting the 21.5" models from 2012 - 2017. You did the right thing fitting the SSD. 

[Allan Bell]

3 hours ago, sb photos said:

 

The iMac 21.5" slow down you experienced is very common, effecting the 21.5" models from 2012 - 2017. You did the right thing fitting the SSD. 

 

I fitted more memory to my 27"iMac from 8GB supplied to 32GB max. Was already running with a 512GB SSD as purchased.

 

Allan

 

[sb photos]

54 minutes ago, Allan Bell said:

 

I fitted more memory to my 27"iMac from 8GB supplied to 32GB max. Was already running with a 512GB SSD as purchased.

 

Allan

 

Memory upgrades are straight forward on the 27”, with 4 slots behind a cover on the rear. The 21.5” skinny iMac’s only have 2 slots, and they are on the rear of the logic board. To access the memory slots you have to remove the display, chin, both speakers, power supply, HD, fan and logic board. That’s why Apple designate them not user upgradeable.

Edited July 8, 2022 by sb photos

[Harry Harrison]

5 hours ago, sb photos said:

The iMac 21.5" slow down you experienced is very common, effecting the 21.5" models from 2012 - 2017

Interesting, does anyone know what makes them slow down?

[sb photos]

21 minutes ago, Harry Harrison said:

Interesting, does anyone know what makes them slow down?

The hard drives themselves. Even from new the 27” models were faster due to their better 3.5” 7200 rpm hard drives. The 21.5” iMac’s used 2.5” 5400 rpm drives. Earlier iMac’s all used faster 3.5” 7200 rpm drives. When the 21.5”  2012 and later iMac models were designed in their skinny cases there was no room to fit a 3.5” drive.

[Harry Harrison]

11 minutes ago, sb photos said:

The hard drives themselves. Even from new the 27” models were faster due to their better 3.5” 7200 rpm hard drives. The 21.5” iMac’s used 2.5” 5400 rpm drives. Earlier iMac’s all used faster 3.5” 7200 rpm drives. When the 21.5”  2012 and later iMac models were designed in their skinny cases there was no room to fit a 3.5” drive.

Thanks for that very comprehensive reply, so the drop in performance was a victim of style over content I suppose. I've got a 2013 version all boxed up and ready but I'm waiting for this 2009 20" to give up the ghost, it's not my image processing machine. Chrome has just stopped updating and it had a hissy fit for a couple of days but seems fine again now.

[Harry Harrison]

1 hour ago, sb photos said:

The hard drives themselves.

I stopped a guy roaming down the towpath at Henley Regatta, two cameras, same hat as you, the beard, knew what he was doing. We were both hanging around behind the same guy in a multi-coloured waistcoat near the start. "Are you Steve Bell?" I said as he came past me. Well, of course he wasn't, an impersonator!

 

He must have wondered what on earth I was on about.

[Allan Bell]

On 08/07/2022 at 13:53, Harry Harrison said:

I stopped a guy roaming down the towpath at Henley Regatta, two cameras, same hat as you, the beard, knew what he was doing. We were both hanging around behind the same guy in a multi-coloured waistcoat near the start. "Are you Steve Bell?" I said as he came past me. Well, of course he wasn't, an impersonator!

 

He must have wondered what on earth I was on about.

 

It was me in disguise.😁

 

Allan

 

[Harry Harrison]

2 hours ago, Allan Bell said:

It was me in disguise.😁

Well I can't prove that it wasn't, It's a long way from Lincoln though!

[sb photos]

On 08/07/2022 at 13:53, Harry Harrison said:

I stopped a guy roaming down the towpath at Henley Regatta, two cameras, same hat as you, the beard, knew what he was doing. We were both hanging around behind the same guy in a multi-coloured waistcoat near the start. "Are you Steve Bell?" I said as he came past me. Well, of course he wasn't, an impersonator!

 

He must have wondered what on earth I was on about.

 

I haven't been to Henley since pre Covid, honestly guv.

[Ed Rooney]

 

The last two Apple items I bought, an iPhone 12 mini and an iPad 6, I got at John Lewis next door to the Liverpool One Apple store. They had the specs I wanted, the price was the same, and I was able to get them the same day. I've still not figured out why I bought the iPad. 

[Allan Bell]

26 minutes ago, Ed Rooney said:

 

The last two Apple items I bought, an iPhone 12 mini and an iPad 6, I got at John Lewis next door to the Liverpool One Apple store. They had the specs I wanted, the price was the same, and I was able to get them the same day. I've still not figured out why I bought the iPad. 

 

I bought an iPad once and still don't know why to this day. Gave it to my daughter.

 

Allan

 

[MDM]

Allan - I just got your email where you seemed to think I was suggesting you get a 13" M1 MacBook Pro but I wasn't. It has probably gotten lost with all the discussion about Mac Studios and external monitors but way back on the first page I suggested "If I was buying now for photo editing, I would go for the 13"  M2 MacBook Pro with 24GB of RAM and a good external monitor. There is no need to buy massive amounts of internal storage. 1TB is sufficient for most of us with external SSD drives now much more afforadable and silent. Thunderbolt 3 or USB-C drives are fine for photo editing as well." The reason for suggesting M2 is that the 13" M1 MacBook Pros and Airs have a maximum 16GB of RAM whereas the M2 goes to 24GB (I was talking future proofing). 

 

As for iPads, I use my 2017 iPad Pro for reading (I have built up a big library of Kindle and other digital books over the years), for connecting to the TV to watch streamed content (BBC iPlayer, Netflix, Amazon Prime) and for playing music though speakers and headphones. Not so much at the moment but I have used it for on the road photography - backing up when I didn't have a laptop with me, showing portrait subjects what they look like for iterative improvements etc. I have never used it for live news but that would be a very good use. iPads have improved so much - they are lightning fast for ingestng images and quick culling/editing. 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 10, 2022 by MDM

[Ed Rooney]

 

Future proofing, ah yes. This is my future, right now. Also, I'm betting adobe will work with my M1 Air for about 5 more years. 

 

I have e-books on my newer iPad and I have my music collection there. Most of my books are on my Kindle Fire. I play virtual pool on my older iPad mini, 9 ball. I also have that second-generation pencil. Is that for removing earwax? 

[MDM]

18 minutes ago, Ed Rooney said:

 

Future proofing, ah yes. This is my future, right now. Also, I'm betting adobe will work with my M1 Air for about 5 more years. 

 

I have e-books on my newer iPad and I have my music collection there. Most of my books are on my Kindle Fire. I play virtual pool on my older iPad mini, 9 ball. I also have that second-generation pencil. Is that for removing earwax? 

 -

I wasn't factoring age or the probability of living for n years into account Edo when talking future proofing. No doubt I will eventually leave the planet and there will be a computer left behind to outlive me - it could even this little beauty I am typing this on right now but I do hope not. 😎

[sb photos]

3 hours ago, Allan Bell said:

 

I bought an iPad once and still don't know why to this day. Gave it to my daughter.

 

Allan

 

 

Same here Allan, only difference is I gave the iPad to my wife. When I owned it was only used 3 or 4 times over 6 months.

[Rebecca Ore]

1 hour ago, sb photos said:

 

Same here Allan, only difference is I gave the iPad to my wife. When I owned it was only used 3 or 4 times over 6 months.

 

I have an iPad 7 basic model and it lives in my bedroom for YouTube, book reading, Usenet (private hierarchy), FaceTime and Telegram when I'm not on the main computer which is in the main part of my house across a courtyard.  Take occasional social media photos on it, too.

[Ed Rooney]

 

Anyone seeking good tech advice would be wise to listen to MDM and not me. As Michael points out, we all have our own unique circumstances. In fact, I see most others as more knowledgeable about digital stuff. I feel that I'm a good photographer but it's not because of my technical skills. If I owned the best set of woodworking tools available, I still could not make a Queen Anne desk.

 

Edited July 11, 2022 by Ed Rooney